Thousands march in Berlin against coronavirus measures

Berlin, Germany: Thousands of protesters rallied in Berlin on Saturday, August 01 against the latest coronavirus measures imposed by the German government.

With no signs of face masks or social distancing rules, people of all ages gathered in the heart of the capital to march against what they consider getting away "from these laws that have been imposed on us", one protester told Reuters TV. Anti-lockdown protests, mounted in part by proponents of anti-establishment theories blaming everyone from vaccine makers to billionaire software tycoon and philanthropist Bill Gates for the disease, started taking place as the virus's reproduction rate in Germany ticked back above the critical threshold of 1.

Protests and demonstrations are allowed in the country, but authorities urge people to remain cautious, wear face masks and maintain social distancing. People returning from high-risk areas must now go into quarantine for two weeks unless they can present a negative coronavirus test not older than 48 hours or are willing to take a test at an airport after the number of cases in Europe increased in the past weeks.

On Tuesday, Germany's top public health official scolded the public for their lack of discipline in adhering to social distancing practices and wearing masks that can slow the spread of the highly contagious disease in the absence of a vaccine. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 955 to 209,653, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday, July 30.